Three Faiths United against Violence(As appeared in the Home Reporter, 2013)

By Brita RoseDecember 12, 2013​The three major confessional faith traditions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – united this month in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York in a unique interfaith service commemorating the 75th year since Kristallnacht.

Art on the Corner and Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd hosted the Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Prayer - Hope out of Brokenness - on November 9th in collaboration with Rabbi Dina Rosenberg of Bay Ridge Jewish Center, Rev. Donald Stiger of Lutheran HealthCare Office of Mission & Spirituality, Dr. Ahmed Jaber of the Arab American Association of New York, Deacon Greg Dixon of St. Andrews the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, and Rev. David Rommereim of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.

This was a multi-purpose gathering, as explained by Rev. Rommereim: “First and foremost, to honor the dignity and memory of those who suffered through the Nazi Holocaust. Secondly, to join with our neighbors in solidarity with others who have suffered from state sponsored violence. Thirdly, to align together as People of Faith, with behavior that builds responsible relationships (Sadiqah) with God and humankind. We bring our communities together in the prayers of compassion and solidarity as practitioners of peace.”

It is surprising that Kristallnacht - or ‘night of broken glass ’ as it came to be known - receives so little national attention given that it effectively marked the beginning of the Holocaust, and that few even know about the horrific events that took place that night in Germany 75 years ago. As Rev. Donald Stiger pointed out, it is astonishing that this is not an official day of remembrance.

In 1935, two years after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, a series of racial laws were enacted stipulating that only those with ‘German blood’ could be citizens of Germany. These were followed by segregation laws prohibiting Jews from associating with non-Jews. Gypsies, blacks, homosexuals and the handicapped all of whom were also seen as a threat to the “pure Aryan race.” Three years later, in 1938, the National Socialist Party (NSDAP) placed more isolating restrictions on the Jews, culminating in an organized pogrom on November 9-10. In an unspeakable day of violence and ethnic cleansing, 236 Jews were murdered and over 30,000 were arrested and taken to concentration camps. Owing to the destruction of 177 Synagogues and 7,500 shops that night, it came to be known as Kristallnacht. (http://annefrank.com/)

It was the beginning of the end for minority groups who were no longer accepted in German society. Those unable to escape or hide faced certain discrimination, persecution, segregation, incarceration, or death.

Lest we be tempted to think that such inhumane practices ceased after the Nazis were defeated by allied forces in 1945, Saturday’s memorial served as a reminder, that state sponsored violence is far from having been eradicated from the world stage.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly for the very purpose of preventing such atrocities from occurring again in direct response to the horrors of World War II. It followed on the heels of the founding of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, and represents the first global agreement of the rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood…” (Article 1. DHR) (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/)

But we know that the struggle against the forces of violence and oppression is not over. Rev. Rommereim spoke about the complicity of silence in the face of oppression and offered a confession on behalf of elements in the church in 1940s Germany. In what ways are we complicit in our silence today? Where do we see racism, ethnic-cleansing, persecution and state oppression in the world? What is, and what should be our response, as a faith community, in the face of such? He evoked the non-violent resistance of staunch anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Lutheran pastor and founding member of Germany’s Confessing Underground Church, who confronted the abuses of state violence with what he called ‘spoke in the wheel.’ Such resistance is not without cost. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned for the active resistance of his spiritual convictions and executed just weeks before German liberation.

Highlighting the discrimination faced by Muslims here in New York today, Dr. Ahmad Jaber, President of the Arab American Association of New York, spoke about the blanket surveillance policy of the New York Police Department (NYPD) and its practices over the past decade. Last month a coalition of 125 community groups, which included the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), wrote to the Department of Justice calling for a federal investigation into these practices, which hurt not only Muslims, but also everyone who places their trust in a legal system that protects America’s diverse population without discrimination.

Saturday’s was a moving service of reflection accompanied by Celtic chants - sung simultaneously in English, Arabic and Hebrew - and other songs, prayers and blessings, including the Havdalah ceremony of Judaism marking the end of Shabbat. It also offered a message of hope, hope in a Creator who unites, a God of light, peace, and love. We sampled a taste of that throughout the evening as congregants of three faith traditions and other community members united in a public stand against violence and oppression.

Moreover, the commemoration occurred on the eve of another related event – a Sunday concert by Bella Voce Singers that marked the official opening of the Anne Frank Exhibit on loan from the Anne Frank Center USA. Anne Frank has long been a symbol of hope amidst state oppression. The standing room only performance featured the powerful choral composition of Linda Tutas Haugen's ‘Anne Frank: A Living Voice with string quartet,’ set to words from the diary of Anne Frank. Other artists along with the Children’s Chorus of Bay Ridge performed their own expression of hope.

The Anne Frank Exhibit was on display at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Bay Ridge for the month of November. It offered a stark reminder of the dangers of the abuse of state power, but also of the courage of one individual and her enduring and inspiring hope in the face of unimaginable trials.

More information about the Anne Frank Center can be found at: http://annefrank.com/

Guest writer, Brita Rose, is a freelance writer and works with the faith and immigrant community in NYC. She has an M.A. in International Relations from the CUNY Graduate Center.

intimidation and social change

Yaki Point, 1972 By David Rommereim

Can Society Recover from the Menace of Wealth?By Rev. David H. Rommereim

The photo

My Olympus Camera took this photo in the winter of 1972 while on a road trip between the upper mid west and San Francisco. I developed it later in a makeshift darkroom in a privy. The photo is a view from the southern region of the Grand Canyon. It is called Yaki Point. If I could have afforded a wide angle lens the picture would take you near the expanse that intimidates both the camera and photographer. The views drop your jaw. The eyes linked to the raised cheek bones make a beautiful squint. All together one encourages the mouth to sound off one steady note of silence liken to a perfect A-440 decibel at peak volume.

Intimidation

My fear was not about stepping too close to the edge and pondering a ‘slip and fall’ as I looked down the 85 degree ledge. If that were the case I would have considered that possibility from US 66 turning north on route US 180, long before I entered the canyon boundaries. I would have been intent on living without any sort of intimidation. Even the view could not inspire such a desperate soul longing to end something totally disconnected from hope. Or, as archetypal psychologist James Hillman speaks about desperation and suicide, saying one “has little understanding of her actions, and because death usually takes her by surprise, it seems to come from without.[1]

That dragoon looming on the intense horizon could come from without. But, as I gazed long ago into that deep awesome Grand Canyon, the chasm was only a threat when I was unable to peer intimately into its very habitat. That is, this canyon, or any intimidating chasm, must be traversed from deep below or it will remain a ridge with a view made solely for postcards.

All intimidation is an invitation to some inner force able to face a conspicuous threat with a sublime exchange with, what Dr. Ann Ulanov referred to as ‘otherwise.’ She reminded her students at Union Theological Seminary in NYC that “there is wisdom in the other. It is for that reason we use the word ‘otherwise.’”[2]

With that in mind, once one with a camera on a ledge begins to hike into the depths, the threat becomes an opportunity. Once we are able to view the expanse without the fear of impending death coming from the outside, we begin to gain the wisdom necessary to traverse the deep unknown.

The Cause

This winter view of the Grand Canyon invites one to ponder how its fame came to be. Did that little river at the bottom carve this canyon? The Colorado river seems so far below that it becomes a tender swirl in an expanse that moves one to tears. The river seems to be a minor ingredient in this massive trajectory of earth spewing from the mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of Baja. Yet, the river seems responsible for this movement of earth and the deep factors which seem completely unwieldy and without control. Come to think of it, why did I hold on to this photograph?

We often see great expanses. We believe it just happened. We tend to think there are no other factors which caused this to happen, other than Gd. At times we conveniently turn to the images of our Newtonian Gd and assume He made this happen, out of nothing (ex nihilo). If it is that simple I must be very special because I get to see it in person. As I would say in 1972, “Aren’t I ‘neat?’

Nevertheless, geologists remind us that the river is one small piece of the puzzle. They remind us that this Grand Canyon was caused by the convergence of two plates of earth’s surface. Deep in the under world of molten earth there is a constant collision and quaking. Seismographs record the constant slipping and sliding of powerful forces of earth collapsing, expanding, molding, and shaping deep earth with even deeper earth. These two masses were the forces of this grand scheme of time. Then after millions of years, I stand at Yaki Point, snap a photo during a simple road trip in the year 1972. My mouth remains wide open in a state of awe. But, for now let me turn to the matter of the “other” and “wisdom.”

Whether tectonic plates shift, or rivers carve vast chasms along canyon walls, each is intimately connected with the other. It is a constant movement that takes years to accomplish. Likewise, any damage takes years to correct, or restore. Again and again, I look at the photo and each time I am reminded that what has taken years to develop is also shifting in rapid succession as our climate is shifting and the tectonic plates of weather, heat and ice are affecting earth/Gaia. I am reminded that nothing is isolated from the other. Earth is an intricate map of interaction between the living things who make home in one tiny spot.

The climate shifts of our last 50 years are also not independent from the economic catastrophe of the last 42 years. And this is the core of my reflection on this 42 year old photo. Each of us, inclusive of the geological formations, climate shifts, and biological changes are affected by massive shifts in climate and economic policy. Burn, baby burn. Spend, baby spend. Take, baby take. These three words express policies which shape our climate and our economy. Each word represents a pattern that has caused a shift to happen between how humankind treats the land and how human beings treat the other. The words provide three habits that cause deep shifts in the core nature of things. How the economy works affects how I care for earth. How the least of these is cared for shapes how they last.

Recovery

The river may represent one who travels through this wanton universe unaware of our own impact. We may have lived three score and ten without truly understanding the climatological trajectory of our own living. It is possible that we remain unsure about our own impact in this intimidating economic universe. What is our part in this story? Are we onlookers or stakeholders?

It is at that point that the intimidating view becomes an opportunity of either a stymied fear or aggressive change. Does the view stop me from looking deeper? Or does it engage me to find my place to learn how to renew the forces that heal and make well? Is the tiny speck deep in the middle of our cultural canyon, or simply rapidly moving H2O? Is the massive eagle overhead looking for me as their prey? Or, is it a spectacle that invites and encourages me/us to act?

We presently face catastrophe in climate due to our will to control, possess, and consume products which biologically/geologically are owned by earth. With that penchant toward consumption we experience the economic barbarity of wealth. Climate and wealth have to do with what you and I want for our selves and our children’s children’ children. Thus far we are intimidated by a corporate disregard to the long term welfare of the global climate. We are intimidated also by the corporate greed that convinces us politically that it is ok to be worth billions of dollars while the neighbor can’t find enough food to gnash their teeth clean. Yet the heart of the matter begins with the individual who recognizes that disparity in climate and economy have a common core.

We face climate shifts which will return humankind to the periphery of earth’s household. At the same time we pretend to live an impending glee because we have more things to purchase. Naively we face the menace of wealth that has led to a canyon of unprecedented disparity. We face such an economic chasm paddling down river in a swift current when we should be paddling up stream looking for the source of this unwieldy power.

While the earth shifts in monumental, calamitous proportions, we are also aware that it has taken thousands of years to build such a magnificent view as the Grand Canyon. However, it has only taken the last few hundred years to shift the climate from one which may not be able to host humankind in the geologic future. Is this to be a moment of awe or a moment of fear?

Do I stare at the postcard or hike down the path?

With regard to the economic tectonic plates of the last century we must ask whether we are able and willing to face this disparity before it’s too late. Are we willing to face this expansive canyon developed from the social shifts of wealth unprecedented in human history with a .01% controlling such wealth? Will there be a will to face off with this intimidating economic hegemony and reform what has been destroying the very fabric of communitarian well being in the United States and world since 1972?

The graph at the close of this little essay points out that in 1972 there has been a shift from the more egalitarian policies which included Unions in conversation with Government and Business to settle the equity needed to build a society that could include a majority of families finding it possible to live beyond the paycheck to own homes, build good schools, send children to college, and keep kids engaged with positive entities. The racialized tensions of that era were being slowly altered due to the faithful leadership of faith communities and political activists in that era. We watched the change needed with voting rights, a confrontation with “redlining” of real estate, which included the civil rights act and the new dynamics of the war on poverty.

The general public was acting and speaking its way to care for the whole through a “War on Poverty.” Government policy established a system of recovery offered those in the lower economic strata an opportunity to regain their footing in an economy that was hell bent to keep them out. Racialized economy was being confronted from 1933 to 1972 in a way that was honest with the disparity based on a racialized system of inequity. Yet, since 1972, with the intimidating gaze down this vase chasm, in a hopeful era of opportunity that is beginning to be shared across the racial, economic, and multinational perspective, things began to change.

It should be noted that the war of poverty could have been won if trends between 1933 and 1972 continued. The graph at the close of this essay will show the projected dotted line which is the statistical picture of the war on poverty. If trends and policies continued from 1972 through the ’80’s poverty would have been eliminated in the USA by 1986.

Yes, things changed. The trends changed. Policies changed. Government changed. The equity changed. The rhetoric changed. Wealth became barbaric with tax rates which became amoral. Pure selfish greed. What was once a war on poverty became a war on the poor. And since 1976 the poor lost the war. The vast majority of Americans are fully cognizant that we are two paychecks from the bread lines.

The dilemma for us this day is whether we want to spend the next 30 years returning to the policies which build equity or remain fighting among the bottom 99%. Do we want to develop the sort of society through public government with policy and practice of local businesses that enhanced equity known in the years of opportunity prior to 1972 through the value of the “general welfare” of our society?

The question we face in NYC is whether our new mayor Bill DeBlasio will have the courage to face off with the governmental policies that have created a tale of two cities. Does our mayor have the political will and the social power to change the menace of wealth we have experience in the last dozen years.

It became clear to most New Yorkers and North Americans of good conscience, that Hurricane Sandy put up a mirror of the social inequity in NYC that remains silenced. Those areas of poverty hit by the storm were devastated before the storm. They remain without political will of our government to heal those wounds before boardwalks are fixed. NYC continues to show a latent will to deal with racialized poverty in areas which remain hit by unemployment, and incarceration. The $17 Billion of Sandy Recovery has no plan yet for the job creation in areas of poverty wonton before the storm. The affordability of housing remains ludicrous to most citizens since rents are out of control, corporate builders have no desire to pay their fair share and equity is deep into that chasm of the plates of history between the super rich and the rest.

What is intimidating is that we have been trained by a social media that if we are not nice to the wealthy they will take their money and hurt us even more. We have been trained by social media controlled by the menacing wealthy that they will improve worker, jobs, and equity. Yet, the statistics are clearly otherwise.[3] Clearly, when the wealthy are taxed appropriately there are more jobs, there is more circulation of money, there is more opportunity. When the barbarity of the wealthy stop hoarding their money and release the trillions in off shore sheltered account, the heart and lung movement of the Unites States economy could begin to circulate.

It is clear that wealth has become a menace in the United States and clearly known for decades in places like NYC where you are able to walk down the street with a man wearing a $10,000 suit with a $25,000 watch, and even underwear that costs more than someone’s monthly rent. Then on that same block an intelligent man is housed in a cardboard box.[4]

These clear experiences which point toward the norm of economic development and property ownership in the hands of a very few represent the decline of social infrastructure necessary for healthy governance. These statistics of wealth and ownership appear unreasonable to the hard working person seeking to get through the day with a dignified wage, move their children through adolescents into a directional life, a life contributing to social betterment. Yet, the examples of the 1% of the 1% owning the vast majority of resources is a form of ownership without control.

Long ago the poet and essayist, Allan Tate, wrote in the American Review an article which analyzed ownership and property from the perspective of global corporate take over of property and the loss of liberty. He said, “Ownership and control are property. Ownership without control is slavery because control without ownership is tyranny. Under finance-capitalism liberty has been defined: Liberty itself is empty and meaningless. Its meaning is in its content. Its content is freedom to choose. … The economic equivalent of liberty, therefore, is freedom to choose between two degrees of power over other persons.”[5]

We have allowed the development of an economic system without control. The unwieldy permission taken by the wealthy to exercise power over others removes the pure exchange value that historically provides a balanced fiscal economy and, subsequently, a negotiated and balanced, political economy.

This disparity has been obvious to New Yorkers for decades. We take the subway and walk the streets with an urbane nonchalance because we are so used to seeing unhealthy wealth brush past unhealthy poverty. It happens daily in the region on the upper east side of Manhattan. There we have extraordinary elite shelters of the wealthiest per capita of residents in the world. Then just two blocks away shelters one of the poorest. It is at that point wealth is a menace. And the barbarity of wealth points to a society without a moral compass, or a moral will to face the truth.

The tectonic plates of the Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations has been a lively experiment in the west. Trends of wealth and equity continue to shift. What has become clear the wealthy rhetoric of Adam Smith’s notion of capitalism refuses to remember that he said, “It is not… unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than… than proportion” (Book V, Chapter II, Part II).

My work in faith based community organizing will continue to place at the table of public conversation the demand that this new Mayor Bill DeBlasio call the question and begin to recover from this barbarity by taxing the rich at the level pre 1972, just for starters.

The rest will come as those on the margins will do their fair share when the playing field as a moral compass rather than a free pass to the neighborhood ATM Machine.

[2]Deeply embedded in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the other is a sign of blessing. I also refer to the work of Emmanuel Levinas, Endre Nous (Thinking-of-the -Other) Columbia Press, 1998 and to the marvelous work of Dr. Kusake Koyama, Water Buffalo Theology,Orbis Press 1999, Where he speaks about “Neighbor-ology”).

[3]See Below in material titled: “How are we doing?”by Rev. Robert Emerick

[4]It was noted in NPR News on 1-21-14 that during the Economic Forum in Switzerland, January 22-25, 2014, that the 85 richest individuals in the world, the collective income is more than 50% of the collective wealth of 50% of the planet’s population. It is also noted in news soundbite that the tax rates for the richest have declined and been declining since the 1970’s. This is now common knowledge initiated publicly through the lens of Occupy Wall Street in 2011 and many who have watched the menace of wealth take over the globalized economy.

[5]Notes on Liberty and Property, Allan Tate, the American Review, March 1936, pages 596-611. Received from notes in Wendell Berry, It All Turns on Affection, Counterpoint Berkeley, 2012